‘P&O Ferries boss Peter Hebblethwaite has admitted to MPs that a decision to sack 800 workers last week without consulting the unions broke the law.’
> Mr Hebblethwaite said no union would have accepted the company proposal, but then admitted he had not consulted them.
So not only did they break the law but it looks like they did it on purpose because they knew what they were doing would never be accepted?
Presumably our business-friendly government will give them a slap on the wrist and reinforce the idea that it is better to ask for forgiveness than permission
He has confessed to breaking the law. Now he just needs to be sentenced.
Oh wait, he’s rich.
Nothing to see here. Move along, move along.
> Not consulting on job cuts broke law, boss admits.
If the sacked workers are being replaced by other people, then they are not “job cuts” and they certainly aren’t “redundancies” (as some sources have reported)
When jobs are cut, the job no longer exists.
Same goes for redundancies. The role no longer exists and so the person is redundant.
That’s not the case here. The jobs have not been cut, and the roles still exist.
The *people* have been cut.
The workers were sacked so that they could be replaced with cheaper labour. That’s it
So please stop saying “job cuts” and definitely don’t say “redundancies”
(And if they need to save money, will the boss take a pay cut? Or be replaced by somebody who can do the job for less pay? Thought not.)
So I guess all the legal experts on here who said the law changed a few years ago to allow this were wrong then when they said it was now legal.
The problem with people who throw loads of shit in the hope that a few stick to the wall is that they aren’t taken seriously. Try instead to hammer Boris on things that he’s genuinely got wrong (there are plenty) instead of blaming him and the tories for everything under the sun that is wrong
As the company took the view it was cheaper and easier to brazenly break the law rather than follow it, I would hope the fine makes it a much more expensive option for them. I suspect I am being naive here.
They knew it broke the law. They did it because no union would accept such conditions anyway and it’d only just be a protracted saga in the media for months so they crunched the numbers and figured out it was less costly to just break the law.
Nobody will goto jail.
Wonder how many will take the offer and run than fight in a tribunal.
No fucking shit Sherlock.
I used to work here until about December time. All I’m going to say is I am absolutely not surprised P&O did what they did, going by my experience there.
The employees (as in, everyone below management level) still there deserve so much better than this shambles as an employer. I hope they all take this as a sign to get out before the ship sinks, excuse the pun.
They broke the law in a limited way, so it’s all good
Then punis…. hang on, Yep, he’s rich. He gets away with it. Sometimes, I think we should just replace the justice system with the Numberwang system. At least, there is a higher chance of companies being made to face their actions and punished as a result of it. Or the quiz show. DO NOT THINK ABOUT THE EVENT.
None of this makes sense. 34 million in pay outs. Plus the lost sail times and reputation damage.
I can’t see how their maths add up unless they are thinking over a 20 year term etc.
They would of surely been better to make cuts elsewhere.
Which they did with impunity, perhaps hoping the government might back them up or help them find a loophole to exploit. P&O greatly misjudged the public backlash over their actions and now the government is making an example of them.
The dismissals are “unfair dismissal” cases and not redundancies. I think the law is that there are 2 parts to the award. One is salary related the other is compensatory. Max payment of £89,000. Wouldn’t it be great if those 800 workers filed 800 unfair dismissal cases and got the max.
This is like the COVID “restrictions” though right? The law says you must do X. But it also says if you don’t do X nothing will happen. And we never enforce this law.
So it’s not really a thing…
I have a wild hypothesis. Maybe P&O wants to get out of their contracts without having to breach their agreements and pay fines. Would the fines be larger if they were to pull out than if they were kicked out?
16 comments
‘P&O Ferries boss Peter Hebblethwaite has admitted to MPs that a decision to sack 800 workers last week without consulting the unions broke the law.’
> Mr Hebblethwaite said no union would have accepted the company proposal, but then admitted he had not consulted them.
So not only did they break the law but it looks like they did it on purpose because they knew what they were doing would never be accepted?
Presumably our business-friendly government will give them a slap on the wrist and reinforce the idea that it is better to ask for forgiveness than permission
He has confessed to breaking the law. Now he just needs to be sentenced.
Oh wait, he’s rich.
Nothing to see here. Move along, move along.
> Not consulting on job cuts broke law, boss admits.
If the sacked workers are being replaced by other people, then they are not “job cuts” and they certainly aren’t “redundancies” (as some sources have reported)
When jobs are cut, the job no longer exists.
Same goes for redundancies. The role no longer exists and so the person is redundant.
That’s not the case here. The jobs have not been cut, and the roles still exist.
The *people* have been cut.
The workers were sacked so that they could be replaced with cheaper labour. That’s it
So please stop saying “job cuts” and definitely don’t say “redundancies”
(And if they need to save money, will the boss take a pay cut? Or be replaced by somebody who can do the job for less pay? Thought not.)
So I guess all the legal experts on here who said the law changed a few years ago to allow this were wrong then when they said it was now legal.
The problem with people who throw loads of shit in the hope that a few stick to the wall is that they aren’t taken seriously. Try instead to hammer Boris on things that he’s genuinely got wrong (there are plenty) instead of blaming him and the tories for everything under the sun that is wrong
As the company took the view it was cheaper and easier to brazenly break the law rather than follow it, I would hope the fine makes it a much more expensive option for them. I suspect I am being naive here.
They knew it broke the law. They did it because no union would accept such conditions anyway and it’d only just be a protracted saga in the media for months so they crunched the numbers and figured out it was less costly to just break the law.
Nobody will goto jail.
Wonder how many will take the offer and run than fight in a tribunal.
No fucking shit Sherlock.
I used to work here until about December time. All I’m going to say is I am absolutely not surprised P&O did what they did, going by my experience there.
The employees (as in, everyone below management level) still there deserve so much better than this shambles as an employer. I hope they all take this as a sign to get out before the ship sinks, excuse the pun.
They broke the law in a limited way, so it’s all good
Then punis…. hang on, Yep, he’s rich. He gets away with it. Sometimes, I think we should just replace the justice system with the Numberwang system. At least, there is a higher chance of companies being made to face their actions and punished as a result of it. Or the quiz show. DO NOT THINK ABOUT THE EVENT.
None of this makes sense. 34 million in pay outs. Plus the lost sail times and reputation damage.
I can’t see how their maths add up unless they are thinking over a 20 year term etc.
They would of surely been better to make cuts elsewhere.
Which they did with impunity, perhaps hoping the government might back them up or help them find a loophole to exploit. P&O greatly misjudged the public backlash over their actions and now the government is making an example of them.
The dismissals are “unfair dismissal” cases and not redundancies. I think the law is that there are 2 parts to the award. One is salary related the other is compensatory. Max payment of £89,000. Wouldn’t it be great if those 800 workers filed 800 unfair dismissal cases and got the max.
This is like the COVID “restrictions” though right? The law says you must do X. But it also says if you don’t do X nothing will happen. And we never enforce this law.
So it’s not really a thing…
I have a wild hypothesis. Maybe P&O wants to get out of their contracts without having to breach their agreements and pay fines. Would the fines be larger if they were to pull out than if they were kicked out?